Stryker Summer

As the days tick down to the end of my Stryker Summer, I slowly resign myself to the fact that no matter how late I stay at the office, or how much I hope my life will pull a “Groundhog’s Day” moment so I can relive my time at Stryker again and again, the most amazing three months is coming to an end.

My first day here, I worried that fitting into a corporate environment would be challenging. However, after just one day of Stryker living, I realized that my team was filled with achievers who are as goofy as I am. As the summer progressed, I looked forward to seeing their faces every morning, and I started to think of them as my pseudo-family. They were resources for me when I needed documents or assistance acquiring parts for my projects, they were friends during lunch time, break time, and out-of-work time, and they were role models all the time. One of my favorite memories with them occurred during our teambuilding activity at Islands of Adventure. After I convinced everyone that we would NOT get wet on the water ride, we proceeded to get soaked from head to toe! We also got to explore Harry Potter world, which inspired me to paint the castle with our team picture included as a goodbye gift to my team.

They taught me how truly important teamwork is. Without the assistance of the various cross-functional teams I worked with this summer, completing the quantity of projects I did would have been impossible. I also would have missed out on hearing their words of wisdom and expanding my knowledge not just about engineering, but also about hydrogels, tooling, purchasing, quality, and even healthy eating.

When I was hired as a Manufacturing Engineer, I had no idea what to expect, even wondering if I would have enough to do for the whole summer. I did not anticipate that not only would I take on a variety of projects that would allow me to see the entire range of Surgical Manufacturing Engineer duties, I would also get so involved in the Stryker mentality of continuous improvement that I would seek out and complete my own projects as well. I never dreamed my first internship would be filled with so much learning, friendship, and fun. Our intern group was small (only 8 of us!), but, it allowed us to grow very close. I am sad as I think that I will be leaving everyone I have met here, but I am thankful that I am leaving with all of these great memories and experiences.